Gul'dan
Gul'dan the Warlock, Master of the Inner Circle of the Shadow Council and Destroyer of Dreams, was the de facto leader of the Horde in its early years, and believed to be the most powerful mortal warlock ever to exist. He is known for describing himself as "darkness incarnate" and "the Destroyer of Dreams." Biography Early life and tutelage with Ner'zhul left|thumb|Gul'dan, portrait from WC3:TFT World Editor Little is known of Gul'dan's early history except that he was originally a member of the Shadowmoon Clan, and showed extraordinary talent with working with the elemental powers of shamanism. Because of this, he was chosen as the honored apprentice to the elder shaman Ner'zhul, chieftain of the Shadowmoon Clan and spiritual leader of the orcish people. As Ner'zhul rallied the orcs for a war against the draenei at the behest of Kil'jaeden (hiding behind the facade of a powerful ancestor referred to as "The Beautiful One"), Gul'dan supported Ner'zhul fully. However, when the shaman began to notice that they could no longer call upon the power of the elements or the ancestors, Ner'zhul began to sense something was amiss. He discovered at Oshu'gun that he had been duped by Kil'jaeden and attempted to back out. To Ner'zhul's horror, he discovered that Gul'dan had seen everything at Oshu'gun and told Kil'jaeden of it all before Ner'zhul returned. Kil'jaeden approached Gul'dan and offered him the chance to become a master of warlock magic, on the condition that he help bring the orcs under his banner. Gul'dan accepted with no qualms whatsoever, and immediately began the work of reshaping the Orcs, hitherto a collection of simple shamanistic clans, into an unstoppable and bloodthirsty Horde. The Horde and the Shadow Council As a necessity of his bid for power, Gul'dan trained a number of like-minded and powerful Orcs, whom he named the Shadow Council. The Council was soon using its power and influence to direct almost every aspect of Orc society, so as to distract those few opposed his dark ideals from their true masters, Gul'dan and Kil'jaeden. He even founded and created his own clan, the Stormreavers, who were loyal only to him. However, this clan wasn't founded until sometime later. To seal the bargain between him and Kil'jaeden, Gul'dan and the Shadow Council offered the clan chieftains the Blood of Mannoroth. The resulting Horde was bloodthirsty, barbaric, and evil, an extension of the demons whom they now worshipped. As a test of the Horde's strength, Gul'dan and the Shadow Council guided the Orcs into murdering every single Draenei they could find on their homeworld. The near-extermination of the Draenei, a race as old as his master Kil'jaeden, proved that the Orcs were ready for the next slaughter. It was at some point during these proceedings that Gul'dan acquired the loyalty of Garona Halforcen. thumb||Gul'dan, as he appeared in Warcraft III The First War Eventually, Gul'dan was contacted by the mad sorcerer Medivh - possessed by the Dark Titan Sargeras - who offered him the promise of godhood, locked away within the Tomb of Sargeras if he would use the Horde to conquer Azeroth. (Sargeras' ulterior motive, however, was to gain possession of his body once more.) Gul'dan agreed, and with the assistance of the Shadow Council, he helped Medivh open the Dark Portal between Azeroth and Draenor. Over the next few years, Gul'dan and his Ogre-Mage apprentice Cho'gall would secretly manipulate the Horde as it rampaged across Azeroth. Gul'dan personally selected the Horde's new warchief, Blackhand, as the perfect pawn for the Shadow Council. Though Blackhand was competent in battle and a relatively sound tactician, he was extremely lustful - and thus easy for Gul'dan to control. Gul'dan saw the Horde led to supremacy over most of the Kingdom of Azeroth, but on the eve of the final siege of Stormwind, Gul'dan was aware of a raiding party against Medivh's tower of Karazhan. Realizing that the Azerothiens intended to slay the Guardian, Gul'dan hastily ransacked Medivh's mind for the Tomb's location. He was still deep within the Guardian's thoughts when Lothar and Khadgar killed him, ending Medivh's treachery and forcing Gul'dan into a coma. Without the counsel of Gul'dan, Blackhand was easily slain by Orgrim Doomhammer, who, with information acquired from an interrogated and tortured Garona, proceeded to slaughter Gul'dan's warlocks and the majority of the Shadow Council. The Second War thumb|left|Gul'dan Gul'dan awoke from the coma with only the Twilight's Hammer and his necrolytes still loyal to him; Blackhand, the Shadow Council and the warlocks were dead, and Garona and the other clans had betrayed him. Garona's betrayal of course had been forced. Doomhammer was willing to spare Gul'dan's life, and even let him run Balor and the ruins of Stormwind Castle, in exchange for information in regards to Blackhand's followers. This was simple enough; Rend and Maim hadn't professed continued loyalty to Gul'dan, so the warlock had no qualms about betraying them. Gul'dan informed Doomhammer that the Raiders were preparing to join the sons of Blackhand and stage a coup against him, as Blackhand had once been a Raider himself. Whether this information was true or not (not even Gul'dan was certain), it was plausible, and Doomhammer disbanded the Raiders and placed them among the many Grunt regiments. As a token of his "loyalty" to the Warchief, Gul'dan promised to create an army of undead riders loyal to him. Gul'dan and his necrolytes tried to raise the dead Stormwind knights into the death knights but failed. In the end, Gul'dan slaughtered his necrolytes and stored their souls in glowing gems. He used the gems, which stored their powers and combined them with the spirits of the slain Shadow Council Warlocks. Then, they were imbued into the corpses of the Knights of Stormwind and their steeds - to create the dreaded Death knights. Of course, at the end of the day, they were still loyal to him, and Doomhammer had no idea that they might not be his warriors. Doomhammer then let Gul'dan to his own devices as he was quite busy with war. Betrayal and death ]] Ultimately, Gul'dan's thirst for power proved to be the Horde's undoing. On the eve of Doomhammer's attack on Lordaeron's capital, Gul'dan took the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer clans and set out to sea to locate the Tomb of Sargeras. With nearly half of his standing forces suddenly gone, Doomhammer was forced to retreat and hunt down the traitorous warlock. This reprieve would ultimately give the Alliance time to regroup...and retaliate. Gul'dan did indeed locate the Tomb, and used his power to raise it from the ocean floor. Taking with him his most select followers, Gul'dan cast open the doors and entered. He did not however find the godhood he was hoping for, instead, he was torn to shreds by a swarm of insane demons that they had unleashed when the tomb was opened. The remainder of his clans, including Cho'gall and his Twilight's Hammer, were slaughtered by Doomhammer's retaliation. Gul'dan's memories survived within the warlock magic of his skull and the runes he painted on the walls of the Tomb. Illidan found the Tomb using Gul'dan's memories from the Skull, and Maiev found the runes. When the tomb caved in Gul'dan's final testament was buried. The Skull of Gul'dan After Gul'dan died, his skull was turned into a channeling totem for demonic energy. The skull was used by Ner'zhul to open portals to other worlds on Draenor, and later by Khadgar to destroy the Dark Portal. After the destruction of the Dark Portal, Khadgar left the skull behind on Draenor in his haste to escape through one of Ner'zhul's rifts. Years later it would appear again on Azeroth, this time used by the Burning Legion to corrupt the forests of Felwood. After learning of its existence from Arthas the death knight, Illidan Stormrage found and took the skull, absorbing its power, becoming half night elf and half demon. Gul'dan in World of Warcraft A vision of Gul'dan can be seen at the Altar of Damnation of Shadowmoon Valley in what is now Outland - the remnants of Draenor. The altar lies in front of a massive volcano known as the Hand of Gul'dan. The repeating vision appears to depict an event prior to the opening of the Dark Portal, where according to the Earthen Ring, the volcano was raised from the valley floor by Gul'dan himself when he severed the orcish people's connection to the elemental spirits of Draenor. Powers and Abilities Gul'dan is one of the most powerful humanoid villains in the history of the the Warcraft Universe. Brann believes that "Gul’dan became the most powerful mortal warlock in history". (Note that not everyone who uses demon magic is a warlock, while warlocks are usually masters of flame and shadow magic as well.) Gul'dan was also able to wipe out the Sketh'lon Arakkoa tribe with a single spell that destroyed their camps and twisted their spirits. Memorable quotes *"Bear witness to the undeniable power of our dark master!" *"Beautiful." (upon receiving the plans for the Dark Portal from Medivh) See also * Skull of Gul'dan * Tomb of Sargeras * Shadow Council * Stormreaver Clan * Medivh * Kil'jaeden } Category:Deceased Category:Warcraft III units Category:Game Characters Category:Lore Characters Category:Major Characters Category:Orcs Category:Historical Warlocks Category:Historical Necromancers Category:Shadow Council